I think the thing that I enjoyed most about this novel was the bread-making. I myself am great at cookies, but very bad at creating edible food that contains yeast (Hooray for bread machines!), so I enjoyed learning how the kneading of the dough develops the texture of the bread and how slight changes in the comBination of ingredients can completely change the final product.
This is a sort of coming-of-age story for thirty-somethings. Wyn is in the process of divorcing and in dire financial straits. She has been part owner of a bread bakery for about a year as the story begins and is newly in love with Mac McLeod, a friend and comforter who is seeking to publish his first novel. Mac is rough around the edges and Wyn is worried about the transition from friends to lovers. Everyone is worried about money and no one seems to have any. This was a pleasant book, but I am still not sure about the title. Tyler, a blue-haired waif with a difficult family background, becomes Wyn's apprentice, working the night shift by her side creating delicious bread. Tyler, the apprentice, is not the focus of the novel though; that is the relationship between Wyn and Mac, who for a good part of the novel is living in the Yukon where his truck broke down on his way to Alaska to think for a few months. The main characters are all well-developed and three-dimensional, easy-going in their relationships despite a significant amount of angst and indecision in their lives. Wyn and Mac sort of mirror Tyler's transition from aimless child to focused adult. I'm sure that a good book critic would pull out the symbolism represented by making the bread and figure out the significance of the title. If you have read it I would appreciate your comments.
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